Dear Germany,
One of the points of moving to Germany was to improve the “work-life ratio”. Sold by stories of Germans having months of vacation, wonderful long lunch breaks, and sunny, bright evenings in the park. I’m still waiting for it to kick in.
What I misunderestimated was just how wrong I’d be. If you work with Europe as well as the East and West coasts of the US, the Central European Time zone is a harsh master. The mornings can be light, with few calls and email chains sprouting, but once the East coast kicks in things start to warm up. Once the West coast kicks in, you can kiss your idea of a cold bier in the biergarten goodbye until at least 10pm.
Quality time with your daughter? I don’t think so.
I’m working similar hours than I was in New York however the considered opinion is that EST is the definitely the kinder time zone to work in.
Disappointedly,
Germanofile
